Burn ‘Em All! Connecticut Town Collecting Violent Games to Destroy Them

In the wake of the Newtown tragedy, another neighboring Connecticut town is advocating its population to collect and destroy violent video games, DVDs, and CDs.

According to an article in the Hartford Courant (spotted by Gamespot), the town of Southington will be holding a collection drive on Jan. 12th at a local drive-in, where town leaders are urging residents to turn in any violent media to be destroyed. As an incentive, Southington officials will be giving away coupons for dining, bowling, or to a local amusement park as compensation. "We want to stop the violence in our community," said Charlie Cocuzza, board president of the chamber of commerce. "Those games can cost $60 or $70. So we want to give families a certificate to do something fun and family-oriented, something where they can spend a couple of hours together instead."

However, just because the people in Southington are advocating for the destruction of these games doesn't mean they're putting the blame of the incident at Sandy Hook on video games. "We're not saying the use of video games causes people to become murderers, but there's evidence that it causes increases in aggressiveness, fear, anxiety and desensitization about actions of violence," said Susan Saucier, director of community services.

The Southington SOS will also be accepting donations from other communities, and the event will run from 9AM-12PM next Saturday. What do you think of the town's idea? Is this going too far, or is Southington taking a bold stance?